Forming films with improved film quality

Abstract

A method includes depositing a flowable film on a substrate by providing a first input flow, the first input flow including plasma effluents of a first precursor, removing a portion of the flowable film from a sidewall of a feature defined within the substrate to obtain a remaining portion of the flowable film by providing a second input flow, the second input flow including plasma effluents of a second precursor, reducing hydrogen content of the remaining portion of the flowable film to obtain a densified film by providing a third input flow, the third input flow including plasma effluents of a third precursor, and treating the densified film in accordance with a film treatment process.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 depositing a film on a substrate by providing a first input flow, the first input flow comprising plasma effluents of a first precursor; 
 reducing hydrogen content of the film to obtain a densified film by providing a second input flow, the second input flow comprising plasma effluents of a second precursor; and 
 removing a portion of the densified film from a sidewall of a feature defined within the substrate to obtain a remaining portion of the film by providing a third input flow, the third input flow comprising plasma effluents of a third precursor; and 
 treating the remaining portion of the film in accordance with a film treatment process. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the depositing, the removing and the reducing are performed within a process chamber, and wherein the treating is performed within a film treatment chamber different from the process chamber. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the second precursor or the third precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein first the precursor comprises a silicon-containing precursor and the film comprises silicon. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the depositing is performed using a set of process window parameters, and wherein the set of process window parameters comprises at least one of:
 a temperature between about 25° C. to about 100° C.; 
 a source power between about 60 Watts (W) to about 250 W; 
 a bias power between about 100 W to about 2000 W; 
 a plasma pulsing having a duty cycle between about 1% to about 99%, and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) to about 20 Hz; 
 a pressure between about 0.5 Torr to about 100 Torr; or 
 a time between about 5 seconds(s) to about 15 s. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the film treatment process is a decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) process performed using a set of process window parameters to achieve a wet etch rate of less than about 4 Angstroms per minute. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the set of process window parameters comprises at least one of:
 a temperature between about 200° C. to about 500° C.; 
 a source power between about 100 Watts (W) to about 250 W; 
 a bias power between about 100 W to about 600 W; 
 a pressure between about 5 milliTorr to about 100 milliTorr; or 
 a time between about 5 seconds(s) to about 15 s. 
 
     
     
       8. A system comprising:
 at least one system controller comprising a processor operatively coupled to a memory and configured to:
 cause film to be deposited on a substrate by causing a first input flow to be provided, the first input flow comprising plasma effluents of a first precursor; 
 cause hydrogen content of the film to be reduced to obtain a densified film by causing a second input flow to be provided, the second input flow comprising plasma effluents of a second precursor; and 
 cause a portion of the densified film to be removed from a sidewall of a feature defined within the substrate to obtain a remaining portion of the film by causing a third input flow to be provided, the third input flow comprising plasma effluents of a third precursor; and 
 cause the remaining portion of the film to be treated in accordance with a film treatment process. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one system controller is configured to:
 cause the film to be deposited on the substrate within a process chamber; 
 cause hydrogen content of the film to be reduced to obtain the densified film within the process chamber; 
 cause the portion of the densified film to be removed from the sidewall of the feature within the process chamber; and 
 cause the remaining portion of the film to be treated in accordance with a film treatment process within a film treatment chamber different from the process chamber. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 8 , wherein at least one of the second precursor or the third precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the first precursor comprises a silicon-containing precursor and the film comprises silicon. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the film is deposited using a set of process window parameters, and wherein the set of process window parameters comprises at least one of:
 a temperature between about 25° C. to about 100° C.; 
 a source power between about 60 Watts (W) to about 250 W; 
 a bias power between about 100 W to about 2000 W; 
 a plasma pulsing having a duty cycle between about 1% to about 99%, and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) to about 20 Hz; 
 a pressure between about 0.5 Torr to about 100 Torr; or 
 a time between about 5 seconds(s) to about 15 s. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the film treatment process is a decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) process performed using a set of process window parameters to achieve a wet etch rate of less than about 4 Angstroms per minute. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the set of process window parameters comprises at least one of:
 a temperature between about 200° C. to about 500° C.; 
 a source power between about 100 Watts (W) to about 250 W; 
 a bias power between about 100 W to about 600 W; 
 a pressure between about 5 milliTorr to about 100 milliTorr; or 
 a time between about 5 seconds(s) to about 15 s. 
 
     
     
       15. An electronic device manufacturing system, comprising:
 a process chamber comprising a first substrate support; 
 a film treatment chamber comprising a second substrate support; 
 a transfer chamber coupled to the process chamber and the film treatment chamber, wherein the transfer chamber houses a transfer robot; and 
 at least one system controller, operatively coupled to the process chamber, the film treatment chamber and the transfer robot, configured to:
 cause the transfer robot to load a substrate on the first substrate support within the process chamber, wherein the substrate comprises a feature defined within the substrate; 
 cause a film to be deposited on the substrate within the process chamber by causing a first input flow to be provided within a processing volume of the process chamber, the first input flow comprising plasma effluents of a first precursor; 
 cause, within the process chamber, hydrogen content of the film to be reduced to obtain a densified film by causing a second input flow to be provided within the processing volume, the second input flow comprising plasma effluents of a second precursor; 
 cause, within the process chamber, a portion of the densified film to be removed from a sidewall of the feature to obtain a remaining portion of the film by causing a third input flow to be provided within the processing volume, the third input flow comprising plasma effluents of a third precursor; 
 cause the transfer robot to transfer the substrate from the process chamber to the film treatment chamber and on the second substrate support; and 
 cause the densified film to be treated within the film treatment chamber in accordance with a film treatment process. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The electronic device manufacturing system of  claim 15 , wherein the first precursor comprises a silicon-containing precursor and the film comprises silicon. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device manufacturing of  claim 15 , wherein at least one of the second precursor or the third precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor. 
     
     
       18. The electronic device manufacturing of  claim 15 , wherein the film is deposited using a set of process window parameters, and wherein the set of process window parameters comprises at least one of:
 a temperature between about 25° C. to about 100° C.; 
 a source power between about 60 Watts (W) to about 250 W; 
 a bias power between about 100 W to about 2000 W; 
 a plasma pulsing having a duty cycle between about 1% to about 99%, and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) to about 20 Hz; 
 a pressure between about 0.5 Torr to about 100 Torr; or 
 a time between about 5 seconds(s) to about 15 s. 
 
     
     
       19. The electronic device manufacturing of  claim 15 , wherein the film treatment process is a DPN process performed using a set of process window parameters to achieve a wet etch rate of less than about 4 Angstroms per minute. 
     
     
       20. The electronic device manufacturing of  claim 19 , wherein the set of process window parameters comprises at least one of:
 a temperature between about 200° C. to about 500° C.; 
 a source power between about 100 Watts (W) to about 250 W; 
 a bias power between about 100 W to about 600 W; 
 a pressure between about 5 milliTorr to about 100 milliTorr; or 
 a time between about 5 seconds(s) to about 15 s.